NFL Combine Rewind: Armchair Scouting Reports

If you’ve been following along with us this offseason here at TwoQBs, I’ve been spending the last month or so taking a look at the incoming rookie class of quarterbacks. … Now that the NFL Combine has come and gone, I wanted to check in with those prospects, see how they did, and provide additional commentary.

Jared Goff, California

Age

Height

Weight

Hand

40

Vert

Broad

Cone

Shuttle

21.2

76

215

9

4.82

27

110

7.17

4.47

I was very disappointed with Jared Goff’s hand size. Nine inches is incredibly small. There are not a ton of signal-callers who have succeeded with hands that size. Furthermore, those successful guys with smaller hands tend to be fairly mobile and Goff did not test as an overly impressive athlete. He had the second-worst 40 time in the observed group of quarterbacks and was by far the least explosive/agile. Tony Romo is a reasonable athletic comp, and he was 15 pounds heavier than Goff.

Paxton Lynch, Memphis

Age

Height

Weight

Hand

40

Vert

Broad

Cone

Shuttle

21.9

79

244

10.25

4.86

36

118

7.14

4.26

Paxton Lynch tested out as a much better athlete than I was expecting. I was right about his pure speed, as he was the slowest of the bunch, but he was the most explosive quarterback despite being 6′ 7″ and weighing 244 pounds. He doesn’t profile as someone who can make a career off his athleticism, but it was good to see that he isn’t a zero at his size.

Carson Wentz, North Dakota State

Age

Height

Weight

Hand

40

Vert

Broad

Cone

Shuttle

23

77

237

10

4.77

30.5

118

6.86

4.15

Carson Wentz is an elite athlete, which wasn’t expected heading into the Combine. He is only slightly smaller than Lynch, but ran a 40 time in the 4.7’s, and posted a ridiculous 11.01 agility score. That’s comparable to players like Marcus Mariota, Cam Newton, and Colin Kaepernick. Those players all ran much faster 40 time’s than Wentz, but I don’t think it’s outlandish to say that Wentz possesses close to Andrew Luck type of athleticism, which is very strong for the quarterback position, especially at his size. To me he is the clear top quarterback in this class.

Christian Hackenberg, Penn State

Age

Height

Weight

Hand

40

Vert

Broad

Cone

Shuttle

20.9

76

223

9

4.78

31

114

7.04

4.33

Outside of being the youngest quarterback in this draft class, Christian Hackenberg doesn’t really have much going for him in terms of physical profile. Much like Goff, he has small hands, though he was faster, more explosive, and more agile than the Cal prospect. I’m a little lower on Hackenberg though now than I was originally, because I think the prevailing wisdom was he possessed prototype size and skills, but had not fully developed as a passer. While the latter may still be true, the former having dents in it makes me less optimistic.

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

Age

Height

Weight

Hand

40

Vert

Broad

Cone

Shuttle

22.4

74

226

10.875

4.79

32.5

116

7.11

4.32

My impression of Dak Prescott has only gotten better through the combine activity, as his hands somehow measured a full inch larger than they did at the Senior Bowl. He has two of the largest hands in the history of the NFL Combine, bigger than players like all-world tight end Rob Gronkowski. With hands that large, I care even less about his undersized frame, and his tested mobility matches what I saw on tape. Prescott is an all-around signal caller who will make serious noise at the NFL level.

Connor Cook, Michigan State

Age

Height

Weight

Hand

40

Vert

Broad

Cone

Shuttle

22.9

76

217

9.75

4.79

33

113

7.21

4.28

Of all the quarterbacks I’ve looked at so far, Connor Cook’s Combine performance probably moves the needle the least for me. He was noticeably average everywhere, but wasn’t really expected to test any differently. He remains my lowest-ranked quarterback in this group.

Anthony is a former football coach and possesses two different mathematics degrees. He uses his combined knowledge in those two fields to dominate the fantasy landscape across a variety of formats, including daily fantasy, dynasty, and 2QB. Anthony is currently a contributor for RotoViz, Fantasy Insiders, and TwoQBs, and has a pure passion for the game, both in real life and fantasy.